-SIN'S POV-

"Your fired. Your job is to make people feel comfortable, feel at ease and to create a relaxing yet fun atmosphere. Your job is to be polite to customers, to serve them their drinks and help them out. When I say help them out, that does not mean fucking them in the staff toilets."

I hate being the bad guy, but someone has to do it.

"B-but boss, how am I meant to explain this to my daddy? He's going to kill me!"

I shrug my shoulders.

"Not my problem. It'll be alright, sweetheart, your lie to Lizzie was pretty creative- I'm sure you'll think of something. Your dismissed now, please hand in your apron. I'll send you your deserved wages at the end of the month, thank you for your services."

She opens her mouth, as if she wishes to talk to me again, but I'm already turned around and swiftly walking in the other direction.

"Everything okay back here?" I yell into the kitchen, to be responded to with nods and thumbs up.

Communication is absolutely key in a workplace. I've explained this multiple times, yet if there's a problem nobody ever bothers to tell me, hence why I have to personally go round to everybody and check that everything is A-okay.

God, I clearly woke up in the wrong side of bed this morning.

"Everything okay with the waiters, Annabel? Please make sure you get a break love, we need our head waitress in check!" I grin, trying to put myself in a good mood whilst talking to one of my favourite members of staff.

Annabel is eighteen and goes to my old college. She may be young, but that's what we look for here.

I was young when I started and I'm still young now. At only twenty two, I have accomplished so much and we hope that will inspire our staff to continue in this revenue or to be interested in future business careers and opportunities. If not, we love the idea that our wages will help provide for someone's future, someone's destiny.

Annabel is going to go somewhere, I'm certain of it.

"Everything is good, boss. There is a group of strange people, who seemed to be eyeing up the young boys, so I'm manning that table personally. Might be worth not letting them into the arena when we open. Could easily be a spiker."

"Thank you, Annabel. You can return to whatever you were doing now."

"Bye Sin." She smiles, before heading over to the strange group of people she spoke about.

I make a note to keep an eye out, the young boys she was on about are fifteen and sixteen and it would be awful for anything to happen to them.

Okay. Kitchen, check. Waiters, check.

"Hello my totally not favourite barman, is everything okay?" I ask Taylor, fist bumping him quietly under the bar.

He grins. "Yes sir. Yes boss."

"Don't act weird with me. But nah, is everything all good for you all? You making sure they've all had their breaks? The Arena is opening soon so we are gonna need all hands on deck- need to make sure they are all rested up for this Saturday."

"I'm too gassed for that, way too gassed. Is Annabel on shift?"

"That's never gonna happen, Tay, keep dreaming." Annabel says with a giggle, before handing him a sheet of paper, "I need these drinks. Pronto."

"I'm a sexy older guy. What am I doing wrong?" Taylor groans, before grabbing a few pint glasses.

Annabel laughs, watching him and telling me with a whisper, "It's definitely gonna happen, I just like teasing him."

"Please don't fuck in the staff toilets, it would be a bummer to fire you both."

"Like you and Lizzie haven't?" Taylor winks at me then runs off to the fridges.

I sigh. "I'm gonna kill him."

"Your the boss, do what you like." Annabel grins, before heading to the door to welcome in some new customers.

Kitchen, check. Waiters, check. Barmen, check.

A moment of rest sounds like absolute heaven. I need to check downstairs in the Arena, but at least I know the restaurant/pub are doing fine. A few moments to myself in the staffroom won't kill anybody.

After getting a coke out the staff vending machine, I lay back on the black and red sofas.

Relaxation has became a stranger since my role for The Bigger Apple exceeded. Co-owning is an extremely successful yet satisfying job. I have a group of amazing staff (not the ones who fuck people in toilets) and of course a brilliant partner.

The Arena is going to symbolise all our hard work. The Bigger Apple has come so far and adding a sophisticated nightclub is what it needs. I'm so excited to finally have it all come together, to finally show that I'm more than just an addict, that I've made something beautiful.

Scrolling through instagram, I notice a few posts from some old friends. Arianna is in America, so we rarely speak, but she seems to be studying for some exam thing. She's studying law in Harvard (who knew she was that smart?) and is almost always working towards another exam.

Jagger has posted some photos of his new dog, Ruff. Jagger is also in America- obviously not at Harvard doing law. I miss him, but he wanted to be a manager at Hooters and he's fulfilled his dream, as he should.

"Sin, they've requested you down in The Arena. Something about a problem with the bar there?" Annabel tells me from the door, looking extremely stressed.

I put my phone in my pocket and stand up. "I'm coming, Annabel, thank you. And remember-"

"Take a break, Annabel, I know," she nods, "I'm going to have one now, I promise."

"Good. Don't over work yourself, ever. If it's getting too busy, call Lizzie, she's due in soon anyway."

Annabel nods again and I smile as I evacuate to go down into the Arena.

After what feels like hours in the Arena, I head back up to the staffroom.

"Hiya, babe."

My eyes light up as they meet with a familiar face. She's been at the salon all day and her hair is now blonde with extensions in an Ariana-Grande-style ponytail, her face is shining and her skin looks fresh.

"Lizzie! I've missed you darlin, how you been?" I wrap my arms round her, engulfing her in a tight and warm embrace.

She hugs me back, smiling. "I'm good little one."

"Shut up. Love the new look, by the way. You look so hot." I wink playfully.

She hits my arm. "Keep it in your pants, little boy."

"We're the same height."

"I'm nearly five years older than you babe." Lizzie laughs as we sit down on the sofa I was on earlier.

"I know. My very own sugar mummy."

"Okay, I'm twenty six babe, not fifty."

I grin. "Your nearly twenty seven though, that's ancient."

"I'll have to find myself a new boy toy then, won't I babe?" She blows a kiss, then starts rummaging through her bag.

I watch her with a smile.

Lizzie pulled me out of the darkness, the darkness that consumed me, the darkness that someone I thought I loved caused me to drown in. She's my best friend, my work partner and my saviour and I will forever be grateful for her for everything. Without her, I don't know where I'd be.

She's a pretty good shag too.

"Okay. So I have a bunch of paperwork for us to both sign regarding The Arena. Absolutely boring, isn't it? But as an old folk I guess I have to get used to paperwork. I'm sure I'm lucky anyway, most paperwork people file at my age are divorces. Don't worry, there's two of us, so it'll go a lot quicker."

"Liz, your not actually old, you know that right? Your way too hot to be old."

"Sin, we are at work, be quiet before I-"

Taylor coughs from the door. "For my sake, don't finish that sentence. Anyway, big boobs boss and big dick boss I'm sorry to interrupt but I need big dick boss. Rhi and Brandon are here."

"We're doing paperwork? This better be bloody important." Lizzie says with a pout.

I laugh, patting her on the head. "It's not going anywhere. You know my signature anyways."

Walking to the bar, I can't help but think that Lizzie seemed kinda salty. Rhiannon and Brandon are some of my closest friends, have been for years and it makes absolutely no sense for her to be pissed off.

They wouldn't come to my work if it wasn't important. It must be important.

For example, when Rhiannon had given birth to Marie, she brought her here to show me before she even brought her home. Also last month, Rhiannon opened her own salon and came straight here to give my staff 50% off, which may not be important but is damn nice of her.

"Sin! You look knackered, I think you need a massage!" Rhiannon says, smiling at me.

"Nice to see you too. Is everything okay? I love you guys, but I have work so..."

Brandon laughs. "Lizzie wants you back? We know mate, we'll be quick. I told Nonnie it could wait, but she doesn't listen."

"Bon-Bon and I want to ask you something. It means a lot to us, you know, like, a lot!"

"I'm listening...." I say, feeling slightly intrigued, also slightly disgusted by their nicknames for one another.

"We want you to plan our wedding."

I choke on literally nothing but oxygen. "Sorry? What? Me? I own a venue, I don't plan weddings guys. Me?"

"Yes! It's perfect. Your one of our closest friends and you can use this place for the reception, right? Not the ceremony, I want a church wedding, like a proper classy girl."

"And I don't. We can't decide on anything, so we decided to put it on you." Brandon adds, laughing at my shocked face.

I shake my head. "I'm sorry, I adore you guys but I can't. The Arena is opening soon, we're going to be real busy. With owning this place, I don't have the time to plan a wedding. A stag-do I could manage and of course you can have your reception here but..."

"We'll pay you, of course. Good money too." Brandon interrupts and I can see the pleading in his eyes- he clearly wants me to do it.

Rhiannon nods encouragingly. "Yes, the money will be good, very good."

"And anyways, you won't be alone." Brandon says cheerily.

Rhiannon's eyes send daggers to her fiancee, the glare piercing through my restaurant/pub/whatever you call it aswell as him. He hangs his head guiltily, his eyes widening as he realises what he said.

"I would never take money from you guys. And anyway, who would I be doing it with?" I ask, out of curiosity. There's no way I would be able to do it, not with my busy schedules. I have a business to run, staff to help and customers to please.

Rhiannon and Brandon exchange glances.

"Well, um...."

A loud, annoyed and clearly put-on cough comes from behind them.

"Stop pussy-footing around guys, it's so annoying," a familiar voice says, before stepping out in front of me, "me. You'd be doing it with me."

Ohmygodthiscannotbehappeningohmygod.

"Sin? Hello? Anybody in there?" She asks, looking almost concerned (obviously she isn't though, she's too cold and heartless for that) and very much amused.

Nowayissheherewhyisshehereisthisadreamiamdreaming.

"And we've broken Sin. I told you guys this was a bad idea."

My fingers latch around her wrist, in a desperate attempt to pull her back.

"Lina. Lina."

She turns around and in a strong and fast force our lips connect, entering a long and passionate kiss full of many meanings, the main one being a painful goodbye.

"I love you Catalina." I whisper, my heart pounding as I wait for a response.

This is the last time I'm going to see her for a while, most likely.

She opens her mouth slightly and my heart pounds faster, desperate to hear those three words in her vibrant voice.

Instead she nods, turns around and leaves me all on my own.

"Fuck this. I'm going for a smoke, see you guys soon."

After a long night of no sleep at all, it is the most amazing thing to wake up and see those red curls beside me again, where they belong.

"Morning, little red." I kiss her on the forehead, wrapping an arm around her before I go back to sleep.

A few hours later, I awake and she's not there. Presuming she's gone to the toilet, I make us both a cup of tea, excited. She's here. She's actually here, in England, with me.

It took me half an hour to realise she wasn't in the toilet.

It took me another half an hour to find the note underneath her pillow.

"I'm so sorry, Sin. I'll see you soon.
Lina X"

It took me an hour to rip the note to shreds.

"She can't be here. Am I hallucinating?" I turn to Rhiannon and Brandon, who hang their heads in shame.

Rhiannon places a hand on my shoulder. "She's my best friend too, Sin. We're all adults now. It'll be okay, it's okay."

"We were adults when she left. We were adults when she ditched me after the fucking christening. She isn't welcome in my workplace. I want all of you out."

Brandon and Rhiannon look at me worryingly.

"I said GET OUT!" I yell, not caring about the eyes on me from both my staff and customers.

Through gritted teeth, before I walk off I tell them once more:

"Get. The. Fuck. Out."

~~~~~~~
and we're back!

i wanted the first few chapters to be brilliant but writing this i have covid, my kidneys are playing up and my mental health is shit. therefore, this isn't the best chapter but i tried!

a lot's happened since the end of Numb Addiction! don't worry, i'm sure you'll catch up :)

also,, orginally i used a different person for the collage of sin HOWEVER i actually picture him as a younger theo james (four from divergent) or leo dicaprio lol so please ignore the pic collage!! although you can see him however you would like.

thank you so much for reading. please continue, but just so you know-

YOU'LL NEED TISSUES!

- anonymous a <3